Joker A Serious Candidate

Sweating under the morning sun, one of South Florida's biggest jokesters is busy working up a small crowd in Little Havana.

But instead of the usual jokes and raunchy impersonations he's known for, Spanish-language radio prankster Enrique Santos is talking seriously about becoming Miami's next mayor.

"They're saying that I am vulgar," Santos says in Spanish to a group of Nicaraguans this week. "The real vulgarity is what's going on with the current [mayoral] administration."

It's not surprising that Santos is having a hard time convincing most people his candidacy is no prank.

After all, the 30-year-old former North Miami police officer is the co-host of South Florida's top-rated bilingual morning show, El VacilM-sn De La MaM-qana on El Zol 95.7 FM.

He and his partner, Joe Ferrero, made headlines in 2003 by crank calling Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. The two make a living pulling phone pranks.

Given that history, many believed Santos was kidding when he announced his candidacy on Sept. 19. But days later, listeners found Santos had shut off his microphone under a cloud of controversy.

"I was basically given two options by my own station," Santos said. "Either withdraw from the race, or get off the air until the election is over."

He said station executives told him they were worried about the Federal Communications Commission's rules requiring equal airtime for candidates. But Santos thinks the campaign of incumbent Mayor Manny Diaz was behind his ouster.

Santos claims someone from a marketing and advertising firm threatened to yank their advertising. The firm is also handling Diaz's re-election campaign, but the mayor denies any involvement.

Santos and his cohorts characterize the showdown as between a populist with a direct line to the city's lower and middle class versus a deep-pocketed incumbent who kowtows to high-priced condo developers.

Ihosvani Rodriguez can be reached at ijrodriguez@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5005.